Copyright by Sandra Milena Wiegand 2011
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Copyright by Sandra Milena Wiegand 2011 The Thesis Committee for Sandra Milena Wiegand Certifies that this is the approved version of the following thesis: An Analysis to the Main Economic Drivers for Offshore Wells Abandonment and Facilities Decommissioning APPROVED BY SUPERVISING COMMITTEE: Supervisor: Steve Nichols Manas Gupta An Analysis to the Main Economic Drivers for Offshore Wells Abandonment and Facilities Decommissioning by Sandra Milena Wiegand, B.S. Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Engineering The University of Texas at Austin August 2011 Dedication This thesis is dedicated to the two most important people in my life: my wonderful father, Hugo Torres and my dear husband, Michael Wiegand. To my father who taught me the meaning of unconditional love. Thank you for giving me the best you had and helping me succeed in life and instilling in me the confidence that I am capable of doing anything I put my mind to. I love you Daddy !. And to my husband, my soul mate and confidant, for always being there for me. Thank you for you endless love, support and patience as I went through this journey. I could not have made it through without you by my side. Acknowledgements I would like to express my gratitude to the following people: Dr. Robert Duvic, for his guidance throughout the first stage of my thesis process. To Dr. Farid Shecaira and Mr. Dalmo Barros for all their support as my managers during these last two years. To Mr. Manas Gupta for his contribution as the co-supervisor for this thesis. To Ms. Solimar Rojas for her support and friendship. To Ms. Ingrid Sellick for her valuable ideas and all the wonderful time we shared during the two years in the master’s program. To Mr. Don Porteous for all his time, support and guidance. To Mr. Joseph Ayyoubi for sharing all his decommissioning knowledge and experience with me, his input was very much appreciated during the elaboration of this thesis. v Abstract An Analysis to the Main Economic Drivers for Offshore Wells Abandonment and Facilities Decommissioning Sandra Milena Wiegand, M.S.E. The University of Texas at Austin, 2011 Supervisor: Steve Nichols Decommissioning and abandonment is a relevant issue in the petroleum industry because of the complex operations involved and the results after the decision has been made. Several factors could lead to abandoning wells and decommissioning platforms, among others hurricanes, production decline, economic limit, etc. Decommissioning and abandonment operations have a great impact in the revenue stream which is either lost or temporarily deferred depending on the situation. Every year between 100-150 platforms are decommissioned and approximately 620 wells are abandoned in the Gulf of Mexico. A case-by-case scenario should be revised on an annual basis and all the possible options to be considered and submitted to the Government. This thesis presents an overview of the topic and an analysis on when decommissioning and abandoning alternatives are recommended for the optimization of the economical resources. vi Table of Contents List of Figures........................................................................................................ ix List of Illustrations...................................................................................................x Chapter 1: Introduction ..........................................................................................1 1.1 Background..............................................................................................3 1.2 Motivation ..............................................................................................7 1.3 Scope of the study ...................................................................................7 1.4 Objectives ...............................................................................................7 1.5 Methodology............................................................................................8 Chapter 2: Literature Review..................................................................................9 2.1 Regulatory Framework .............................................................................9 2.2 Types of Platforms..................................................................................13 2.2.1 Facility Decommissioning Options ............................................16 2.2.1.1 Removal and Reuse ........................................................18 2.3 Topsides and Decks Removal Options ..................................................20 2.3.1 Heavy Lifts..................................................................................20 2.3.2 Small Piece Method ....................................................................21 2.3.3 Reverse Installation.....................................................................22 2.4 Pipeline Decommissioning ....................................................................23 2.5 Rigs-to-Reefs Program ..........................................................................24 2.6 Wells ......................................................................................................27 2.6.1 Abandonment Options ...............................................................28 Chapter 3: Relevant Issues that influence Economical Analysis Decisions.........30 3.1 Key Drivers for Cost Estimate...............................................................31 3.2 Accounting for Future Decommissioning..............................................39 Chapter 4: Conclusions.........................................................................................41 4.1 Summary ................................................................................................41 4.2 Recommendations...................................................................................42 vii 4.3 Conclusions.............................................................................................43 Glossary ................................................................................................................44 Bibliography ..........................................................................................................46 Vita …...................................................................................................................50 viii List of Figures Figure 1: Hurricane Damage Summary in the GoM ..........................................6 ix List of Illustrations Illustration 1: Map of the Gulf of Mexico ...........................................................4 Illustration 2: Platforms damaged during Katrina Hurricane in 2005.................5 Illustration 3: Different Deepwater System Types ............................................14 Illustration 4: Platform Decommissioning Alternatives ....................................16 Illustration 5: Heavy Lift Example ....................................................................21 Illustration 6: Heavy Lift Example....................................................................21 Illustration 7: Example Small Piece Method.....................................................22 Illustration 8: Artificial Reefs, Oases for Marine Life in the Gulf....................25 Illustration 9: Typical GoM Plugged and Abandoned (P&A) Wellbore...........28 x Chapter 1: Introduction Decommissioning could be defined as a multidisciplinary process of deciding which one is the best way is to shut down production and operations for a facility once the field has reached its economic life. Its main objective is to deliver all property free from hazards for the environment and to restore the area to the original conditions, as per the applicable regulations and company expectations. Decommissioning involves a long term planning and covers several phases and areas. Its phases are closing, plugging and abandoning the well(s) and pipelines, cleaning the site, making the facilities and structural components safe, removing equipments, disposing, reusing or recycling them, and finally, providing monitoring and surveillance if needed. Among the areas for the planning are Health, Safety and Environmental (HSE), economic appraisals, legal provisions, technical issues, stakeholders’ involvement, etc. Each platform or structure is different due to unique characteristics such as location, design and installation, and they are operated for specific purposes at a specific site, so a case-by-case evaluation is required. In general, decommissioning is followed through on a case-by-case basis where several factors are carefully analyzed in order to minimize risk to the personnel, environment and compliance with the government regulations. Many multinational companies that work in the oil and gas sector have undertaken voluntary improvements to their environmental and social management practices in order to take a more comprehensively approach to manage their business 1 risks throughout the project life cycle and comply with their own internal corporate social responsibility policies and principles. These efforts have contributed to a better analysis and mitigation of the anticipating effects expected from possible decommissioning alternatives. Decommissioning and abandonment could be challenging issues not easy to predict because of mainly the following reasons: Nowadays, new technologies allow a more efficient and extensive oil and gas recovery